1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to polypeptides having cellulase activity and polynucleotides encoding the polypeptides. The invention also relates to nucleic acid constructs, vectors, and host cells comprising the polynucleotides as well as methods of producing and using the polypeptides.
2. Description of the Related Art
Terebella lapidaria (Linaeus, 1767) is a polychaete living only in marine environments. Specimens are typically 3-9 cm in length and 4-5 mm in diameter.
T. lapidaria are tube builders that cement sand particles together into a tube habitat. They scavenge organic material, algae and or small animals with their numerous grooved palps. Terebella lapidaria is a marine specie with a wide ecologic distribution, that can be found in the intertidal and subtidal in up to 30-40 m depth, both in mobile substrates such as sand, muddy sand and mud but can also be found on rigid substrates such as rock strata.
Like many sand and detritus eating polychaetes, Terebella has a powerful digestive biosurfactant system and enzymes produced by the digestive system have obviously evolved to work efficiently in surfactant environments at or around neutral pH.
The present invention provides polypeptides having cellulase activity and polynucleotides encoding the polypeptides.